Real-World Landmarks in Zelda

[faery]

Hi everyone (or anyone)!

I recently discovered this website in search for Zelda landmarks and locations that are direct inspiration of real-world ones. I began researching this topic after recognizing the Rist Peninsula in BotW as the Spiral Jetty of Utah's Great Salt Lake. I feel that there must be more direct inspirations for Zelda landmarks and locations, but I can't seem find much online.

If anyone knows of anywhere knows of  or is confident of a real-world landmark that inspired Zelda ones, please let me know. If not, any sources/sites you've think might have information on this that you could provide would be really interesting to me too.

[hennethannun]

Hello!

Insofar as I know, there is no repository for Zelda-specific geographic locations anywhere, although I wish there were. It would be fascinating to put together. To me, the most obvious example of a Zelda location having been inspired by a place in the world is the location of the fight with Demise in Skyward Sword; the glassy-surfaced water is likely Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni. (I've attached a link to Nat. Geo. below.) Obviously, the architectures of these games are highly influenced by the real world, but geographic location would be harder to pin down, as geography tends to be a bit more "repetitive" across the world, given common climes, plate movement, etc. (There isn't an element of human design to it, obviously, unless you count things like the Spiral Jetty, as in your original post.)

A few other places that might demonstrate connected influences are:

Dueling Peaks (Breath of the Wild) and Sado – The Gold Mine Island in Japan (Link: http://buffalotrip.com/japan/travel-writing-and-blogging/8-days-in-tohoku:-sado-the-gold-mine-island-(part-i).html - scroll down to Sado.)

Cape Cresia and Cape Cod share no small degree of smiliarity in shape, though certainly not in climate or biodiversity.

Lastly, from the top of my head, Lake Totori and the Rito Village are slightly reminiscent of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan, China.

Demise Fight: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/south-america/bolivia/how-to-see-salar-de-uyuni-salt-flats-bolivia/

Hope any of that helps you, or helps to sate your curiosity! I'd be absolutely thrilled to do some more research on this topic; just let me know if you want to pursue this any farther.

Best,

Hennethannun

[faery]

Hey there!

Wow! The locations you've identified are really spot-on! You really blew my mind on the Demise fight.
It's a bummer there doesn't seem to be online archive of Zelda development notes or anything. If you come up with any other connections, please let me know! It really interests me.